Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In FF #4, we have a meeting of the minds and a city under attack.

Where were we? The Fantastic Four is now the Future Foundation, with close to twenty members, most of them genius kids in Reed’s makeshift school. Also, Spider-Man has joined the team following Johnny’s death (he’s not really dead). Dr. Doom made a deal with Valeria to join the team in exchange for Reed restoring Doom’s intellect to full strength. Valeria also recently released four members of the Council of Reeds (alternate universe versions of Reed who don’t have Reed’s morals) into Earth. The FF is also still dealing with four lost civilizations they recently discovered, along with a prophecy about a war among those four cities. To deal with the four evil Reeds, the FF have recruited some of their most intelligent enemies to plan a counter-strategy… how to defeat Reed Richards. Got all that?

We begin with sitcom-ish scene a Sue and Spider-Man make sandwiches for the kids. Spidey asks Sue why she’s not concerned, because they’re doing this while Reed is meeting with Dr. Doom, the Mad Thinker, the Wizard, Diablo, the High Evolutionary, and some A.I.M. guys. She says she’s not worried because, “I’ve beaten every one of them.” She goes all Batman saying she’s not afraid of them, but they should be afraid of her. An alarm goes off, but we don’t see what that’s about because we cut to…

The meeting. In addition to Reed and the all the villains, Valeria, Nathaniel Richards, and even the Watcher are there. Reed chides Valeria for letting the four other Reeds into the Earth, while the villains chide Reed for never having been so fearful. Diablo suggests exploited the other Reeds’ weaknesses, namely their versions of Sue and the kids. The Mad Thinker says the Reeds would expect that, and that the Reeds’ true weakness is something they’ve overlooked. The Wizard retells the myth of King Solomon and the two mothers (why?) until Reed interrupts, saying, “You don’t understand.” Reed says, “They are not me,” emphasizing that the other Reeds do not have families or loved ones, only their cause.

Ben stands guard outside the room, along with Bently-23. Ben says he’s prepared for the inevitable, ready for a fight when the villains get out of hand. Bently likes that the villains are there, saying “This is really turning into my kind of place.” Ben walks off, saying he’s going to take a few days off. Bently and some of the other kids then hear that alarm go off. Sue, Spidey, and a bunch of the others respond to the alarm, which is coming from Sue’s bedroom. The alarm is a message from Old Atlantis, one of the lost cities recently discovered, having been sealed off from the Earth since ancient times. The message is that creatures called Chordai and Mala are leading a revolution. As acting regent, Sue says she’s on her way. Sue heads off to Old Atlantis, bringing Spider-Man and Alex Power with her as backup.

Back in the meeting, there’s more talk about the other Reeds are more ruthless than our Reed, with the villains expressing admiration for them. Dr. Doom calls them “perfect Reeds.” Nathaniel says the other Reeds are acting out of desperation, violating whatever code it is that they do live by. Reed concludes that they must be building a machine. Doom says this machine is the Reeds’ weakness, and he gets Valeria to admit she knows its location. The machine is Sol’s Anvil, briefly seen last issue. Then things finally tie together (sort of) as Valeria admits that part of the machine are found in the four lost cities, on the moon, in the Negative Zone, in the High Evolutionary’s underground city, and… Old Atlantis.

 Inside Old Atlantis’ main structure, the Peak, Sue learns the Chordai and Mala are amphibius, attacking the city from the air-breathing side. We see these creatures as some kind of shell-wearing tentacled things, who unleash huge energy blasts upon the Peak. Sue, Spider-Man, and Alex join the fight outside the Peak, which also include humanoid Orc-like monsters. These are smiling all through the fight, saying, “He is coming.”

The ground collapses into a huge sinkhole, and the Mole Man emerges. He’s brought his army of Moloids and several of his giant subterranean monsters. There’s also a mysterious hooded man alongside the Mole Man. It’s not a mystery for long, as he pulls the back to hood to reveal he’s one of the alternate Reeds. Sue looks at him with shock, asking “Reed?”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed’s love for his family is what initially separated him from the rest of the Council of Reeds, revealing them to be not-so-nice. This issue revisits those themes.

Fade out: The conch shell in Reed and Sue’s bedroom is a communication device linked to Old Atlantis. Why’d she chose the bedroom for that? I can’t say.

Clobberin’ time: Ben’s walking out, especially when on guard duty, seems a little out of character, but we’ve seen that he’s been in a dark place since Johnny’s death.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Spider-Man jokes around with Sue about how the FF kids like having the crusts cut off their sandwiches. But then he admits that he, too, cuts the crusts off.

Four and a half: Franklin joins Bentley-23, Leech, and Artie running around shooting suction cup guns at each other. One gets stuck to Ben.

Our gal Val: After spending so long sneaking around behind the scenes and doing her own thing, Valeria sees consequences to her actions. She thought she was doing the right thing, but even her genius couldn’t have predicted this crisis. Now she’s in a place to have to set things right.

Foundational: The FF’s two Atlantean members, Vii and Wu, finally get a character moment as they help repair the FF’s aquarium, noting that the repairs will make the fish “more tart.” They’re predators, apparently.

Dragon Man is put in charge of the FF while Sue, Spidey, and (apparently) Ben are away.

Artie has seemingly had a growth spurt, now drawn at the same height as Leech, Franklin, and Bentley.

Trivia time: The Mole Man is of course joined by Giganto, the monster from the famous Fantastic Four #1 cover. The other monsters are, to date, unidentified.  

The Marvel Wiki states that the Mala and Chordai first appeared in issue $576, as lost tribes of Old Atlantis. I don’t have time today to go back through the issues, so I’ll take the Wiki’s word for it this time.

In the Marvel Universe, King Solomon is not just a Bible story, but a living character. He was a former Sorcerer Supreme, and he was briefly brought back to life in the 1940s to use his magic powers to fight evil. Also, remember Solomon’s Frogs from the Black Panther issues? Same guy!

Fantastic or frightful? Exciting to see Jonathan Hickman start tying up all these threads he’s started, yet I feel like I’ve said that a couple of times now. Still, this issue keeps moving, with suspense among the villains and some action at Old Atlantis. I liked this one, and I’m hoping it’s a swing in the right direction.

Next: Mistaken identity.

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